Being a freelance spy has its perks, like making your own hours, meeting interesting people and cracking cases without any bureaucratic red tape. In the case of Gunpoint protagonist Richard Conway, it also means investigating a murder in which he is the prime suspect.

Gunpoint is an acrobatic stealth game, though a healthy dose of puzzle-solving is never far behind.

Conway's agility puts Assassin's Creed to shame, as the trench coat-wearing spy can leap huge distances, survive falls from any height and effortlessly climb on any wall or ceiling.

A light switch on the first floor could be adjusted to turn off the lights on the third floor.

When a confused guard reaches for the third floor light switch, it instead activates a timed vault door back on the first floor that you couldn't normally get through in time.

Puzzles get even more devious when multiple colored circuits are introduced, color-coding electronics as green, red, blue, yellow and more to indicate which devices can be connected.

Your tools also expand as the puzzles get more challenging, letting you trigger electric shocks on some devices or even wire a guard's gun into a circuit to trigger devices, or so that you can trigger the gun.

The beauty of Gunpoint is that it encourages players to experiment with as many ways to solve a level as possible.

There are guns, of course, and you even get the option to use one late in the game, but it is the one tool where the game places some judgment to discourage using it.

Firing your gun sets off a timer, at the end of which a sniper appears at the exit to stop you from completing the level.

The gun has other uses, and can even force guards to surrender if used properly, but the timer turns it more into a tool of last resort than an essential part of the game.

Gunpoint is a game with tremendous respect for the player, essentially giving you a toolbox of spy gadgets and a new stealth playground in every level, then letting you have at it at your own pace.

It is interesting that the game's namesake is the only tool to have this sort of restriction, especially with so many other ways to kill guards that are not discouraged, like shoving them out of a high rise window.

De-emphasising guns actually ties back into the game's plot, which concerns two competing weapons manufacturers in a city where guns have been outlawed.

The story, which is told through a series of text messages between Conway and his client for any given mission, offers its fair share of espionage, betrayals and some genuinely funny writing.

But for all of Gunpoint's freedom, very little of it has any major consequences.

Your dialog choices and play style in missions generally won't impact how the story pans out, which flies counter to most contemporary games designed around player choice.

However, the lack of consequence actually works in Gunpoint's favor, since it allows you to play the way that is most fun for you rather than forcing you to curb your play style in order to see everything the game has to offer.

To top it off, Gunpoint has a robust level editor for you to create your own labyrinthine towers to hack and climb.

The three-hour campaign feels like it is over too soon, so a strong community of level builders could have a profound effect on Gunpoint's lasting appeal. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be an easy way to share those custom levels yet.

Gunpoint is a game with tremendous respect for the player, essentially giving you a toolbox of spy gadgets and a new stealth playground in every level, then letting you have at it at your own pace.

Players who shy away from puzzles or who prefer games where there is a "right" way to solve each level may not see what all the fuss is about, but Gunpoint's playful tone and encouragement for experimentation make for a winning combination.